In this article, we uncover a common misconception that most managers have about the best salespeople, and learn how to leverage this information to improve our business and hiring practices.
Question: (Answer honestly…)
What are the attributes of the top performing salespeople?
The two factors fundamental to predicting the success of salespeople include:
1: Personality type
2: Explanatory style
Personality type will be discussed In part 1 of the article, Explanatory style will be covered in part 2.
Top Performers: Most Managers Get It Wrong… Do You?
If I gave you a choice between hiring an introvert and an extrovert for your next salesperson, which would you choose?
If you chose extrovert, you would not be alone! Surveys given to managers across the country have resulted in the vast majority assuming extroverts make the best salespeople.
In contrast to this widely held belief among managers, the evidence tells a different story. The correct answer to the question above is, in fact, neither extrovert nor introvert! That’s right, the best salespeople are not extroverts, rather, they have been labeled ambiverts!
What the heck is an ambivert? It’s not someone who loves driving an ambulance!
Ambiverts are people who have characteristics of both introverts and extroverts. Despite supporting research being published as early as 2012, not until recently, has the media picked up on the ambivert phenomenon. For example, the Wall Street Journal, CNN.com, Business Insider, and CBS News all recently published articles about ambiverts and how they might make the ideal employee or salesperson. In addition to popular media, has there been research conducted supporting the ambivert idea?
Ambivert Evidence:
A 2012 study by Adam Grant Ph.D., examined the sales performance and the level of extroversion vs. introversion among 340 salespeople. Surprisingly, the results showed that the “very introverted” and “very extroverted” employees had the lowest sales performance! The highest performers, actually displayed equal extroversion and introversion characteristics, and were thus labeled “ambiverts”.
Specifically, the ambiverts averaged 32% higher sales revenue than the extroverts! In the observed environment, where the range of dollars produced by the salespeople was about $90 to $200 per hour, the ambivert employee made the company $61,526.40 more than the extrovert employee in one year!
This begs the question. Why do ambiverts perform better?
Ambivert Advantage
Dr. Grant hypothesizes, that ambiverts display superior performance in sales environments because they are better able to mold to either end of the personality spectrum. Ambiverts can be more extroverted with the extrovert clients, and more introverted with the introvert clients. In other words, they are better able to be sales chameleons!
What can we do about it?
In his book, “To Sell Is Human”, Daniel Pink highlights this research on ambiverts, how it applies in a sales environment, and provides an online ambivert assessment. Take his ambivert test to see if you are a sales chameleon! Hiring managers and HR professionals can familiarize themselves with the qualities of ambiverts and create situational questions for the interview process, which will help determine if the candidate is the right “chameleon” for the job!
In part two of this article, we will discuss explanatory style, and how used together, these two concepts have the potential to dramatically improve your team’s sales performance!
Until next time,
Rob Lewis
Empowering the world together through fitness
To get access to your free 5 video fitness sales course, and for more information on our consulting services and employee sales training, visit our website, Empower Sales Formula
keywords: how to hire salespeople, sales person, how to hire personal trainers, personal trainer sales, fitness manager, health club manager, human resources, hr professional, fitness professional, hiring practices, rob lewis, empower sales formula, sales training for personal trainers, free sales course, salespeople, sales person.